It wasn’t until I was in Munich, as a member of the US Olympic Team, that I learned about the benefits of massage. I had been running for 14 years, had suffered from more than 100 injuries, and had come to believe that lingering fatigue was an inevitable part of world-class sport. Then, I met several Scandinavian runners who were ranked higher than I, who had massages after every hard workout or race.

Each believed that he would not have achieved world-class status without these sessions. After a visit to the library, I learned that tired/exhausted muscles could be returned to top capacity quicker by massage-especially in my sport, distance running.

An exhausting workout damages several areas of the most-used muscles. It may take 7-14 days to recover from one of these workouts/races without massage. Several of my resource sources noted that massage can allow healing after a really tough workout in as little as 48 hours by moving the “junk” out of the damaged area. This stimulates repair and recovery of muscle cells. Experienced massage therapists can manipulate the muscle to promote better blood flow which delivers healing agents and rebuilding material.

I had significant injuries in both of my calf muscles, that kept recurring and stopped me from running for a week or more. Deep tissue massage eliminated the problems: One required 11 treatments, and the other needed 6 sessions. After each session, the leg kept getting better. I have had no further problems with either leg since the treatments.

In my experience, the Human Touchproduct simulates the muscle manipulation used by a therapist in most of the ways needed. The best part is that I can relax, let the machine’s “fingers” move the “junk” out of my muscles, and feel great afterward. In case of significant injury, see a doctor or deep tissue therapist.

When I start my run, on the next day, the muscles are more resilient and ready to run. What a joy for me, in my 50th year of running. Maybe I can run until I’m 100!

Note: Over a million runners and walkers have attended Jeff Galloway clinics, running schools, wonderful retreats, training programs or read his books. To subscribe to his free newsletter and/or blog, visit www.JeffGalloway.com